9/27/2007 London, England staff TradingMarkets.com Despite improvements in surgical techniques and the development of novel chemoradiotherapy strategies, survival rates in patients with head and neck cancer has remained relatively unchanged over the last 30 years. While this could be due to the absence of any significant advancements in treatment techniques, newer targeted therapies now hold out great promise for the future. Pharmaceutical companies that succeed in increasing efficacy, lowering toxicity and improving survival rates can expect to gain position in the emerging European head and neck cancer therapeutics markets. "Unlike traditional chemotherapy drugs, which not only attack tumours but harm healthy tissues as well, newer agents work by specifically targeting cancer cells," notes Frost & Sullivan Programme Leader Paljit Mudhar. "A growing number of targeted therapies that predominantly attack cancer cells, leaving most healthy cells intact, are proving to be effective against a range of cancers including breast, colon, lung, kidney and head and neck cancers and lymphoma." Therefore, targeted therapies are expected to be a major growth driver for the head and neck cancer therapeutics market in Europe. A number of these are undergoing clinical trials and in future, many more molecules could be identified as potential therapeutic targets for cancer. A good example of targeted therapy is Erbitux (cetuximab). This is a first in class IgG1 monoclonal antibody (mAb), specifically targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). mAbs are highly specific therapeutics and have improved side effect profiles. This apart, there is considerable scope for newer treatment options [...]

9/27/2007 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Michael Smith, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today MedPageToday.com Stopping heavy drinking can significantly reduce the risk of esophageal and head-and-neck cancers, primarily squamous-cell carcinomas, researchers here said. In a pooled analysis of 13 studies, those who quit heavy drinking saw their risk of esophageal cancer and head and neck cancer return to normal after 20 years, according to Jürgen Rehm, Ph.D., of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and colleagues. But the first few years after stopping saw a significant rise in development of both types of cancer, he and colleagues reported in the September issue of the International Journal of Cancer. The researchers postulated that the increase immediately after quitting was the result of what they called the "sick quitter" effect, in which patients stop drinking because they are already suffering symptoms of cancer, although it had not yet been diagnosed. But after five years in the case of esophageal cancer and 10 years for head and neck cancers, the risk begins to drop, Dr. Rehm and colleagues said. "Alcohol cessation has very similar effects on risk for head and neck cancers as smoking cessation has on lung cancer. Dr. Rehm said. "It - takes about two decades before the risk is back to the risk of those who were never drinkers or never smokers." The finding comes from 13 case-control studies - five in esophageal cancer and eight in head and neck cancer - that included more than 5,000 cases, the researchers said. [...]

9/27/2007 web-based article staff Reuters.com Introgen reports the results of new data analysis from multiple Phase 2 clinical studies showing a statistically significant correlation between the abnormal p53 biomarker and tumor response after treatment with Advexin in patients with head and neck, lung, prostate and Li-Fraumeni Syndrome cancers. In 54 late-stage cancer patient samples evaluated from the Company's Phase 2 studies, tumor response after Advexin monotherapy was observed in 35% of patients with the abnormal p53 biomarker and all tumor responses occurred in the abnormal p53 biomarker group (p = 0.0013). The majority of these patients had recurrent disease after receiving standard therapies. The company has previously reported study results demonstrating a statistically significant correlation between the abnormal p53 biomarker and increased survival after Advexin therapy in head and neck cancer patients. "The results presented today confirm and extend previous biomarker data correlating the abnormal p53 biomarker with increased tumor responses following Advexin treatment and support its use as a biomarker to predict Advexin efficacy," said John Nemunaitis, M.D., a principal investigator of the studies and executive director of the Mary Crowley Medical Research Center. "Importantly, the data from multiple tumor types indicate an absolute correlation of tumor response and abnormal p53 as 100 percent of the responding tumors had the abnormal p53 biomarker."

9/25/2007 Ann Arbor, MI staff www.medicalnewstoday.com A cancer diagnosis affects more than just the patient. A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds spouses report similar physical and emotional quality of life as the patient. The study found that what really impacted emotional distress among both patients and their spouses was whether the patient was newly diagnosed, facing a recurrence or living with advanced disease. Researchers looked at 263 men with prostate cancer and their spouses. Participants were recruited from three large cancer centers. Both the men and their wives completed questionnaires that assessed quality of life, including physical, social, family, emotional and functional issues. Patients and spouses each reported on their own quality of life. The researchers found little difference in quality of life between patients and spouses, but found significant differences based on the phase of their illness. Couples coping with advanced disease had significantly poorer overall quality of life. "The spouses of advanced cancer patients are really carrying the load. Cancer is a devastating illness, and a patient's primary resource is the partner, who often doesn't have the information she needs to deal with these complex problems. This isn't just a common cold - this is the person you love and care about dealing with a life-threatening illness," says lead study author Laurel Northouse, Ph.D., R.N., co-director of the Socio-Behavioral Program at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center and Mary Lou Willard French Professor of Nursing at the U-M School of Nursing. [...]

9/24/2007 Chicago, IL Caroline Helwick International Medicine World Report (www.imwr.com) Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is emerging as a significant factor in head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma—with medical and perhaps social implications. "HPV-related oropharynx carcinoma is beginning to constitute a significant portion of the oncologist's practice in head and neck cancer," said Marshall Posner, MD, medical director, Head and Neck Oncology Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, who presented new study results at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). "HPV-related cancers are seen in as many as 25% of patients in community practice. At Dana-Farber, a referral cancer center, almost 50% of the oropharynx cancers we see are HPV-positive." HPV Infection Improves Prognosis But the presence of HPV infection actually heralds a better prognosis in patients with these types of cancer, according to data from a new phase 2 prospective study conducted by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG 2399). This multicenter study confirmed retrospective, single-institution reports showing improved survival for patients with HPV-positive head and neck squamous-cell cancer compared with their HPV-negative counterparts. At ASCO, Carole Fakhry, MD, of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, reported that a positive HPV infection status conferred a 79% lower risk of death in this population. HPV status should now be considered a biomarker for prognosis in head and neck cancer, Dr Fakhry maintained. Moreover, these findings have implications for current treatment practices, as they may necessitate a reinterpretation of survival rates found in previous phase 2 trials to [...]

9/23/2007 Bethesda, MD staff sciencedaily.com A U.S. pathologist says some anti-cancer treatments may shrink tumors but increase the cancer stem cells that drive the disease. Dr. Vasyl Vasko of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences said his research suggests that some treatments could be producing more cancer stem cells, which then metastasize as a way to survive the therapy. "This may help explain why the expression of stem-cell markers has been associated with resistance to chemotherapy and radiation treatments and poor outcome for patients with cancers including prostate, breast and lung cancers," Vasko said Friday in a release. The research was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's second International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development. The report said the cancer stem-cell markers include Nanog and BMI1, both of which contribute to stem cells' defining ability to renew themselves and differentiate into different cell types. Vasko said these same molecules are found in embryonic stem cells.

9/21/2007 United Kingdom Dr Thomas Stuttaford: Times Online (www.timesonline.co.uk) The Health Protection Agency’s study confirms that a significant proportion of young women are having sex between the ages of 14 and 16. The finding of positive antibodies to HPV, the human papillomavirus, which can infect anyone, man or woman, who has sexual intercourse, is a good marker for sexual activity. Although 80 per cent of women become HPV positive during their lives, in only a small minority of cases does it give rise to either premalignant or malignant changes in the cervix. Most people are unaware when they are infected with HPV because the obvious genital wart is not of the type that turns malignant. It takes between ten and twenty years for cervical cancer to develop after infection. Well over 99 per cent of cases of cervical cancer can be shown to have been caused by infection with HPV. Different strains of HPV from those that cause cervical cancer result in the unsightly and troublesome genital warts. HPV is also certainly responsible for many cases of anal and penile cancer and it is thought by many doctors to account for the marked upsurge in cases of oral cancer over the past 30 years that has coincided with an increase in oral sex. It has been known for many years that far more young girls, from all walks of life, are having sex when still under age than their mentors liked to assume. For this reason it is important that [...]

9/19/2007 United Kingdom Nic Fleming Telegraph.co.uk US researchers have been given the go-ahead to give patients transfusions of “super strength” cancer-killing cells from donors. Dr Zheng Cui, of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, has shown in laboratory experiments that immune cells from some people can be almost 50 times more effective in fighting cancer than in others. Dr Cui, whose work is highlighted in this week’s New Scientist magazine, has previously shown cells from mice found to be immune to cancer can be used to cure ordinary mice with tumours. The work raises the prospect of using cancer-killing immune system cells called granulocytes from donors to significantly boost a cancer patient’s ability to fight their disease, and potentially cure them. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week gave Dr Cui permission to inject super-strength granulocytes into 22 patients. Dr Cui said: “Our hope is that this could be a cure. Our pre-clinical tests have been exceptionally successful. “If this is half as effective in humans as it is in mice it could be that half of patients could be cured or at least given one to two years extra of high quality life. “The technology needed to do this already exists, so if it works in humans we could save a lot of lives, and we could be doing so within two years.” Dr Cui is confident patients could benefit from the technique quickly because the technology used to extract granulocytes is the same as that [...]

9/19/2007 Tulsa, OK Cindy Kleiman, CDA, RDH, BS RDH Magazine (www.rdhmag.com) I met Sandy Boody, a fellow dental hygienist, in San Antonio, Texas. We were both consulting for Biotene/Laclede at a national oncology nursing convention. Ironically, the nurses attending the meeting on “Oral Care for Cancer Patients” could be the same RNs who would be caring for my colleague in her upcoming battle to survive head and neck cancer. Sandy and I are both college faculty and are both experienced working with the medically compromised patient. We enjoy our times together and have many similarities, not only in our careers but in our personal lives as well. Sandy lives in the Pittsburgh area, and I live in the Phoenix area. The story of Sandy Boody is one I’ve wanted to share. It is her own private journey, yet it is one that, if shared, could save a patient’s life or even your own. I am grateful to be allowed to tell you this story. Sandy Boody, CDA, RDH, MEd, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh. She spent two decades of her career as an educator at Allegheny Community College/Northern Area Special Purpose Schools. She has taught many courses, including head and neck anatomy, which has given her knowledge that ended up being her lifeboat. Besides teaching, treating the medically compromised patient remains her passion. Hospital dentistry and nursing home care were interests that Sandy participated in for many years during her summer teaching breaks. She also was passionate about xerostomia [...]

9/17/2007 Washington, DC press release money.cnn.com Vision-Sciences, Inc. ("Vision-Sciences" or the "Company") announced today that it has unveiled its recently FDA-cleared, video-based flexible endoscopes at the American Academy of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO ("AAO-HNSF") September 16 - 19th in Washington D.C. The Academy includes more than 12,000 otolaryngologists, physicians and surgeons from over 75 countries and all 50 states who diagnose and treat disorders of the Ear, Nose, and Throat anatomy, as well as related structures of the head and neck. These treatments include swallowing disorders (Dysphagia), sinusitis, hoarseness, chronic cough, sleep apnea, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Barrett's disease and head and neck cancer. The ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) and TNE (Transnasal Esophagoscopy) videoscopes are the first two in the series of uniquely advanced digital endoscopy platforms to be launched. The ENT-5000 and TNE-5000 scopes are made with a built-in LED light source, eliminating the need for a separate camera head and light cable. The ENT-5000 flexible video laryngoscope is inserted in the nose down to the throat, providing detailed, vivid images of the internal structures of the nasal cavity, vocal folds, larynx and other areas of the throat. The TNE-5000 flexible video transnasal esophagoscope allows for visualization and diagnosis further down to the esophagus and stomach. These lightweight videoscopes facilitate diagnostic and therapeutic procedures without general anesthesia or intravenous sedation. During the procedure, the patient's comfort is enhanced by the scope's use of the smallest diameter insertion tube known to [...]